Friday, March 15, 2013

Angola's airport and air traffic authority Empresa Nacional de Aeroportos e Navegação Aérea (ENANA) has announced the closure of Yuri Gagarin International Airport in the south western port city of Namibe. The airport will be closed until August 2013 at the earliest to allow for rehabilitation and expansion works to proceed.

Also being considered are flights from Lisbon to the northern Mozambican port of Nacala, in Nampula Province, the site of enormous coal and phosphate deposits (in addition to the various infrastructural improvements they will need), currently being exploited by a fellow Lusophone country Brazil's, Vale S.A.

"The current average occupancy of flights to Maputo is estimated at 80 percent
and Couto said that her company is taking into
consideration the possibility of flying to Nacala in the northern
province of Nampula in case the number of clients is significant and if
the airport rehabilitation allows it to host planes operated by TAP."

Presently, Nacala Airport is being upgraded by Brazilian firm Odebrecht International and entails the construction of passenger and cargo terminals, a control tower, maintenance building, firefighting building, runway, taxi ways, a parking lot and all necessary equipment and systems. The project will involve 23 months of construction work, with delivery scheduled for March 2013. The runway will be 3,400 metres (11,200 ft) long, able to handle a Boeing 757 or 767 whilst the airport itself will be able to handle 500,000 to 600,000 passengers a year.

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Welcome to The African Aviation Tribune - the web's most up-to-date resource on all news and events to do with aviation in Africa.With bureaux in Rome, Italy and Harare, Zimbabwe, if it happens, we'll cover it.